One in four burgled homes in Northamptonshire have been broken into before

Nick Spoors

Northamptonshire householders burgled twice are more likely to be broken into again than anywhere else in the country.

The figures released by Victim Support today, covering the period between 2008 and 2013, show 25 per cent of burgled homes were targeted again.

And 30.8 per cent of houses burgled twice were broken into at least once more, the highest rate in the country.

Karen Froggatt, director of the charity, said: “Thousands of homes are being blighted by burglaries. Getting burgled once can be devastating, but to be burgled multiple times is, understandably, extremely difficult for victims to recover from.

“Victims tell us that they suffer far more than lost possessions when their home is burgled, they lose their sense of safety in their own homes.

“Repeat victimisation can have a long lasting and widespread impact on people’s lives.

“That’s why it’s so important that victims of burglary can get practical help and have someone to talk to, when they do experience this awful crime.”

In the period surveyed there were more than 20,000 burglaries in the county at almost 17,000 different houses. A total of 5,082 homes were bugled multiple times.

Gail Hunter, spokeswoman for the security company ADT, which helped compile the figures said: “When burglaries happen, we know it’s not just what they take, it’s what they leave behind. Burglary can be a terrible experience and, disappointingly, the figures show that there is a strong possibility of being burgled again.”